


Don't I Always?

by byericacameron



Series: Canon AU [8]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 07:24:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2459861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byericacameron/pseuds/byericacameron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kelly doesn't ask for much, so when Nick can give him something special he tries to go all out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't I Always?

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a direct sequel to Lions and Tigers.

If it had been anyone but a member of Sidewinder, Nick might’ve been a little pissed that he couldn’t actually walk up to the door and surprise them. But this was Kelly and Kelly had security reaching at least half a mile out from his cabin. There had been no way Nick’s surprise visit was going to last as far as the front door. Kelly was already leaning against the banister, a grin splitting his face.

“You’re lucky I wasn’t itching to shoot something today or you might not have made it up the drive, Irish,” Kelly called from the porch when Nick got out of the SUV.

“Good to see you too, Kels.” Nick pulled his bags out of the backseat and slung them over his shoulder, his eyes roaming Kelly, checking for changes. It was heady to see him exactly the same as the last time Nick had seen him.

Nick hadn’t even gotten halfway to the house when Kelly leapt over the railing and sprinted closer. Already bracing himself, Nick dropped his bags just in time to catch Kelly’s flying leap. Nick might’ve been impressed by the height of the jump if Kelly hadn’t also been busy kissing the sense completely out of Nick’s head.

“I’m glad to see you,” Kelly gasped between kisses.

Hands tightening on Kelly’s thighs, Nick pulled him closer and kissed him again. “Kinda picked up on that.”

“But what are you doing here?”

“Got somethin’ I want to show you.”

“Yeah?” Kelly dropped for the ground and dug his fingers into Nick’s curls. “Is it something new to play with?”

“Not this time.” Nick grinned and kissed Kelly one more time. “Pack a bag, babe.”

“What? Why? Where are we going?”

“Don’t ruin the surprise. For once, just do what you’re told?”

Kelly grin widened. “Don’t I always?”

***

Kelly stared at the ticket Nick had handed him. “Texas? Why are we going to Texas?”

Nick smiled enigmatically. “You got a problem with Texas?”

“Nick. We’re going to Zane’s hometown. Without Zane.” Kelly waved the ticket in Nick’s face. “What kind of sense does that make, Lucky?”

“Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

“Hmm…” Kelly tapped the edge of the ticket against his pursed lips. “You’re being mysterious, Nicko. I’m not sure I like it.”

“How about you wait to judge until tomorrow, huh?”

Kelly nodded slowly. “You know you’re building up expectations here, right?”

“Yeah, Kels. I know.”

“You gonna deliver on that?”

Nick grabbed Kelly around the waist and kissed him hard and fast.

“Don’t I always?” he murmured against Kelly’s lips.

***

“I cannot believe I let you blindfold me for something other than sex,” Kelly muttered for the fifth time as Nick drove toward the Roaring Springs Sanctuary.

“You’ll have to get over it eventually.”

“Just tell me it’s not another three hours.”

“It’s not another three hours,” Nick confirmed.

Kelly sighed and shifted restlessly in his seat. “Expectations are getting higher, Nicko.”

 _If this blows up in my face, I’m never gonna live it down_ , Nick thought as he pulled into the parking lot. Taking a deep breath, hands clenched just a little too tight on the steering wheel, Nick prayed for this to go the way he hoped.

“Can I take this off yet?” Kelly sounded annoyed, but the smile on his face was impossible to hide.

Nick shook his head even though Kelly couldn’t see. “Couple more minutes.”

Kelly’s sigh was aggrieved and overwrought. Melodramatic to the point of hilarious. Nick whacked his knuckles against Kelly’s forehead. “Knock that off or I’ll leave you in the car.”

“No you won’t.” Kelly says it with such solid trust and assurance that Nick can’t help smiling.

Leaning over the console, Nick steals a kiss from those smiling lips. “No. I won’t.”

“C’mon, then, Lucky,” Kelly murmured against Nick’s lips. “Show me what you got.”

Nick couldn’t swallow the growl that those words elicited. It only made Kelly laugh.

Before the moment could evolve into something that involved them losing clothing, Nick got out and walked around the front of the car. He opened Kelly’s door and helped him out, taking his hand to guide him toward the main office.

“This had better be spectacular, Irish. I’m talking moonlight and candles and star gazing and a midnight picnic and—”

“It’s two in the afternoon, Kels,” he said as he opened the door and guided Kelly inside.   

“Well then you got your work cut out for you, man. Better get a move—” Nick slipped the blindfold off and watched Kelly blink as his eyes adjusted to the light. “—on.”

“Welcome!” The sanctuary director stood there with a massive grin, her arms flung wide as she skipped toward Kelly and hauled him into a hug. “I’m so glad you guys could make it back so soon.”

Kelly looked so adorably confused Nick almost laughed. “How—”

“How about I take you to see your lion?” The woman laughed and pulled away from Kelly. “Just what I was thinking!”

“My…” Kelly’s eyes bugged. He glanced—somewhat frantically—at Nick. “My what?”

Nick shrugged one shoulder, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “You said you wanted a lion, babe.”

Kelly turned toward Nick slowly, so slowly that Nick started to worry that he wasn’t actually pleased by the news. Maybe it really had been just a passing whim. One that had vanished into Kelly’s vast mind as soon as it had appeared. Kelly was usually quick and bright and light in his exuberance. It was only when Kelly was burning ice cold rage or in complete shock that he moved this slow.

“Nick. You adopted me a  _lion_?”

“Yeah.” Nick rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. “The last time we were here, you—”

Kelly burst into motion, ramming into Nick so hard and fast Nick barely had the time to move his hands out of the way before Kelly had plastered himself against Nick’s chest with his arms wrapped tight around Nick’s neck.

“I love you,” Kelly whispered, his cheek pressed against Nick’s. “Goddamn, Irish. A  _lion_?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he whispered back before gently rubbing his cheek against Kelly’s. “Happy birthday, Kels.”

“You got birthdays too, you know,” Kelly huffed, the annoyance in his tone belied by the glitter in his eyes. “How am I supposed to top this one? I don’t even know how to say thank you for this!”

Nick ran one finger along Kelly’s jaw and slid the other into the back pocket of his jeans. “You’re smart. You’ll find plenty of ways to say thanks.”

Kelly’s grin before he kissed Nick was downright dirty. “Don’t I always?”


End file.
